


Mission Moment

by krazikrys



Category: Backstreet Boys
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-08-19 15:44:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20212246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krazikrys/pseuds/krazikrys
Summary: The Backstreet Boys visit a youth day camp. Only when they do, Brian's voice completely drops. Three photos soon go viral bringing attention to the small camp and their mission to youth.





	1. Chapter 1

I was sitting at the desk, going over my numbers as all the campers were in our morning roundup. It was a little after nine in the morning on Monday after the Fourth of July. That was when the CEO and her son came out of the back. I smiled at the boy, who was the same age as my son and checked his name off on my list. “They’re in the camp room,” I told him and he nodded, heading down along the row of rooms before turning towards the left and the classroom there.

I watched as the woman beside me sat down in the other chair and said, “So, tell me why I’ve been having conversations last week about a group coming and visiting us?”

I just shrugged. “I don’t know. It could have something to do with that rough edit of the video I sent you.”

“That would probably be it,” she said smiling at me. “Well, they’ll be here at ten and since it was your idea, you get to go out there and meet them.” Getting up, she said, “Probably a few others will be joining you as well. They wanna play and help with the video.”

I smiled and nodded and watched as she walked back down the hallway and into her corner office. I then slowly got up and walked into the staff office and closed the door. My supervisor who had just gotten there looked up at me. I stared at her for a moment before I sank down into a chair across from her desk.

“I’ve either got to take my lunch late or take it now,” I said, barely containing my excitement.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I’m supposed to meet our special guests at ten out front. I’m assuming they’re gonna wanna play with the kids, so we may need to rearrange things.”

“Like how?”

I shrugged. “I dunno. Open rec type things: rec room, Just Dance, basketball. We should have enough staff to just let them roam for a bit.”

“So who’s coming?” I grinned at her and showed her the photo on my phone. Her mouth dropped open. “Really?” I nodded again. “Okay, well, take your break and be back before ten. I’ll cover the desk for you. This is so amazing!” I smiled as I walked out of her office and clocked out.

I headed down to get myself a coffee while I thought about what was happening. I was shocked that one little direct message of our kids playing to the song “No Place” and telling the Backstreet Boys what had happened with the fire and how we were looking to use the video for a fundraising campaign could lead to something like this. I was wearing my teal work shirt and a pair of black capris yoga pants. Probably not the thing I ever envisioned myself wearing when I met my idols, but if that was what it was going to be, I was fine with it. 

I sat down outside and tried to calm myself. I couldn’t believe that in about half an hour I was going to meet my favorite group of all time! When my “lunch” break was over, I headed back inside and seemed to collect an entourage of administrative types. I glanced at my co-workers, all seven of them, managing the sixty-odd kids we had that day. They were broken up into their age groups and in various areas around the building going over expectations and bonding. I smiled at all the administrators and we headed out front to greet our special guests.

I glanced down the street and saw two full-sized SUVs with dark tinted windows. I stood back with the people who actually run our organization behind me and waited as the five Backstreet Boys got out of the two vehicles along with a couple of bodyguards who seriously reminded me of one of our supervisors. Kevin was the first one to me and held out his hand to me. I took it as he said, “You must be Rebecca.”

“I am,” I said. “It’s so good to have you guys here. The kids are really going to enjoy it.” I then half-turned and said, “Let me introduce you to our admin team.” Handshakes were made, names exchanged. I just hung back for a minute and when everyone was done and we formed this really awkward half-circle around me, I said, “Okay, so, this is kinda what I was thinking.” I put my hands together before saying, “The kids are about to go to rotations, but we’re gonna change that up today a bit since you guys are here. We’ll gather them in our rec room to tell them of the change. This would be a great opportunity for you to introduce yourselves to the kids. And then, once they get off to their various places, go play with them.” I paused. “After a bit, we might snag you guys, put you in some swag and have you do a blurb for our fundraising video. If you’re up to it?”

They all chimed in with saying “It sounded fine.” And, “We’re all for it.”

I nodded and went to walk across the circle to lead everyone inside when I heard Brian squeak out, “Bec.” I wasn’t expecting it so I stopped and turned towards him. The look on his face was one I’d never seen before. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes wide. He glanced over at his bandmates but didn’t say anything. It was then that I realized he couldn’t. “Brian?” Kevin asked. Brian shook his head. 

I walked over to him and stood in front of my favorite Backstreet Boy. “Is everything okay?” I asked. I watched as he barely shook his head.

The rest of the guys all of a sudden jumped in and I was overwhelmed with their voices saying that he had vocal issues and other things. I just held up my hand and they stopped. Without thinking about it, I reached for his hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught someone snapping pictures on their phone. “Brian,” I said. “It’s okay. I understand. I’m here for you.” He nodded at me and I continued. “You’re here at Club. We’re all here to support you. We will lift you up. We will stand beside you. I don’t know what’s going on and you may not either. But your perseverance and strength are going to get you through it. And we’re all here for you.” I blinked away the tears that had formed in my eyes and saw that he was fighting back tears of his own. He then pulled me into a hug and we just stood there for a moment. I knew that whoever was taking pictures was probably getting some good ones, but at that moment, I was doing exactly what I needed to. We pulled away and stood there looking at each other for a moment. He then smiled at me and nodded. It was at that moment, I realized what had happened. “Your voice is gone, isn’t it?” He nodded again. “Don’t worry,” I stated. “I got your back.” 

I stepped away from him and clapped my hands. “Okay, now that we’ve got the serious stuff out of the way, let’s go have some fun!” I led the group inside and saw all our kids sitting on the floor in the rec room. Our camp counselors were filling the dead space with a camp song. You could hear the whispers start when they saw the five men behind me. I held my finger to my lips and waited for the song to finish.

As one of my fellow counselors finished the song and saw me standing there with the guys behind me, she grinned and said, “And now, I’m gonna pass my attention ball down to Rebecca who I think has a special surprise for us all!.”

I grinned and caught the imaginary ball as sixty pairs of eyes turned to look at me. “Hey, campers!” I said. “I know we would normally be doing rotations right now, but today I brought some friends with me. They came out because they wanted to hang with you guys, is that okay?”

Most of the campers answered with a “Yeah!” so I took that as a good thing. They were all kids ranging in age from six to ten. “So, we’re gonna have these guys introduce themselves to you in just a second. And then we’re gonna announce our special rotations. These guys are gonna stick around and play for a while. Now, we have this tradition here at Club that when people come in, they have to introduce themselves. Now usually they say their name and the superhero power they’d like to have. But, I want these guys to get to know you too. So we’re gonna do something a little different.” I took a breath and then started walking a little back and forth. “So they’re gonna say their name and their favorite…” I paused, thinking on my feet, “ice cream flavor. And if that’s your favorite flavor too, you’re gonna give them a thumbs up. No thumbs down. No thumbs sideways. Only thumbs up okay. So, here’s your example.” I took another breath. “Hey. My name is Rebecca. You can call me Rebecca, Becca, Bec,” I shot a glance over my shoulder at Brian, “or Becs, but don’t call me Becky, and don’t call me late for supper. My favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip. And if that’s your favorite ice cream too, you’re going to be showing thumbs up.” I held up both my thumbs so the kids knew. I walked around among the kids for a second nodding before heading back upfront. “Awesome!” I said. “Okay, so how about we have our new friends here introduce themselves.” I purposefully walked my way down the line so that I was standing next to Brian. I pointed down the opposite end and said, “We’re gonna start down at that end with Kevin!”

Slowly, each guy introduced themselves to the kids and I watched as the kids gave thumbs up with each answer. When they finally got to Brian, he looked at me. I knew at that moment he couldn’t participate in the way everyone else had. I just put my arm around his back and turned to the kids. “And this is Brian! He’s kinda lost his voice right now. So I’m gonna say his favorite flavor is mint chocolate chip too!” I shot him a glance and he shook his head slowly, grinning. “Now he may not have a voice but I’m pretty sure he’s gonna show you that you don’t need to be as tall as some of our staff over there to be awesome at basketball!”

Once I was done introducing Brian, I again stepped in front of the kids and said, “Okay, so, today for the time while these five guys are here, we’re gonna have a special edition of ‘Ballin’ with Dre’.” I glanced at one of my co-workers and he grinned and gave two thumbs up. “We’re also gonna get out groove on with some ‘Just Dance!’ And because it’s water week, we have duck duck splash going on outside. And we’ll have the games room! So in just a minute, you are gonna pick either to line up at the front door, patio door, library or stay put. Staff, let’s make sure we have one staff in each area and everyone else support as needed.” Everyone nodded as we dismissed them. As the campers were following various staff to different locations, I watched as each one of the Backstreet Boys headed off. As I expected, Nick and Brian followed the group to the gym. I smiled and slid up next to Brian. Glancing at him, I said, “You gonna be okay?” He closed his eyes and nodded slowly. “Good. I’m gonna hang around for a minute just to make sure, okay?” Again he nodded. I could see the look in his eyes was one of gratitude.

I wasn’t much of a sports person, but I hung around long enough to see that Brian not having his voice wasn’t keeping him from having a blast with the kids. As I was standing there watching, a group of girls caught my eye. They were staring at Nick. I wandered over to them and their giggling immediately stopped. “What’s up girls?” I asked. More giggling. “Are you all crushing on Nick?” Again, giggling. “You know, he’s my age,” I said. They all gasped.

Then one of them ventured to ask, “Do you think you could get him to teach us to dance?”

I grinned. “Sure,” I said, shrugging. I really had no clue on this, but I figured if it was for the kids, I was game. We weren’t that far from him, so I called out, “Hey Nick!” He was obviously too busy playing with some of the older boys because he ignored me. I tried again. “Hey, Nicky!” Again nothing. I glanced at the girls beside me and grinned. “Hey Nickolas Gene Carter, do not make me get my mom voice on!” 

This stopped Nick in his tracks. The girls giggled like crazy. He looked at me and asked, walking over to where I was standing with these six girls “What’s up?”

“The girls here want to know if you’d teach them to dance?”

He grinned one of his patented Nick Carter smiles and said, “Sure!”

I looked at the girls and held my hands up. “See, not that hard!” I watched as he led them over to a corner of our gym and they spread out. He opted for the classic “Everybody” dance probably because it was one of the easier routines and if the girls really wanted to learn it, I could point them in the direction of the YouTube video.

Towards the end of the hour of playing around, I snagged all five guys and we headed inside to meet with the CEO. She had brand new tee shirts for them and then directed us down the street to our new mural outside. She had decided that the wall outside it was the best spot for what I had mentioned to her. She told them the idea on the walkover. I followed them and Howie asked, “So do you have what you want us to say?”

I shrugged. “Just give us one of the classic ‘We’re the Backstreet Boys,’ and make sure you mention our organization and the website.”

“Do you want us to say anything about the fire?” AJ asked.

I glanced at our CEO who said, “You could say it took half our club sites, displaced over five hundred families and a third of our staff.”

And then I added, “And you’ve got to mention how to these kids there is no place like Club.”

They all nodded and then looked at each other. “Okay, give us a minute to run this a couple of times through and see who gets what line,” Kevin told us.

Brian then said in a raspy shaky voice, “Kinda like...our...songs.” I grinned at him and grabbed his hand.

Our events and media director joined us with one of our better cameras to film the video. After a few minutes, Howie said, “Okay, where do you want us?”

I just stood back and let the two administrators take over because this was their thing, not mine. They stood against our phoenix mural with our logo and they went through what they were going to say. I watched as they recorded it about five times just so they had enough to work with. When we were done, I walked over to them and hugged each one. Our events guy asked about social media accounts and they all looked at me. “You are following them all, aren’t you?” Nick asked.

I grinned. “Of course!” I then turned to two administrators. “If they’re willing, I’ll share their handles and you can tag them if you’d like.” The five men nodded.

Our CEO added, “I’ll email pictures to your management so you guys can go through them and share as well.” Everyone nodded.

It wasn’t very long after that that they headed to their cars and I got one last hug from each of them. Brian was the last and he looked at me and said, “Thank you,” very softly.

I nodded and replied, “You’re welcome.” He hugged me one last time before climbing into one of the SUVs.

As the two vehicles drove away and I stood there watching until they turned the corner, the CEO placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know the kids are raving about it,” she said. I nodded. “Come on. You can go back to work and I’ll go through the pictures.” I nodded again and followed her back inside. I was still in shock about what had happened.

I went through the rest of my day and as I was clocking out, our events manager came out to snag me. He told me the CEO wanted some clarification on a couple of pictures. I nodded and followed him into her corner office. She turned her computer screen towards me and said, “Tell me,” she stated, “why did you say what you did?”

On her screen was a photo of Brian and me, his hands in mine. There was also the one where I hugged him and the one where I had my hands on the sides of his arms looking at him. I shrugged, staring at the pictures. “It’s my job, isn’t it? To inspire and enable everyone who walks through those doors? He obviously needed some encouragement at that moment. I just gave it to him.”

“Can I share it on Instagram and Facebook?”

“Sure,” I said, not really sure what she had in mind. I made sure she had all the Backstreet Boys’ Instagram handles and told her she could search them all on Facebook. I left a short time after that, feeling absolutely exhausted.I knew it was the pure adrenaline I had been running on. As I drove home, I had no idea what was to come over the next few weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of days later, photos from the visit were posted online. There was also an article in our local newspaper. Wednesday afternoon, they posted the photo of Brian and I hugging. They tagged it as a “Mission Moment.” I grinned and shared it on my Instagram, creating the hashtag #MissionMoment. I tagged Brain in the photo in the hope he might see it. I then went and tagged all our photos on both the company Facebook and Instagram with all the Backstreet Boys’ handles.

The following day, Brian shared it on his Instagram and Facebook for his #FanPicFriday. Also that day the group account shared it, as well as the other four Boys. Other Clubs had started to pick it up as well and were sharing it saying that the mission wasn’t just for kids anymore. By the following Monday morning, the photos were just about everywhere. The national organization had shared it on their Facebook page. 

A week after the visit, the Backstreet Boys were back on tour and I was sitting in the CEO’s office and she was telling me about an interview opportunity I had with the national organization and she wanted to set up that phone interview on Friday. She also told me that our local news station and the paper wanted to set up interviews, which we agreed would be the following week, which happened to be the last full week in July.

The last week of camp came and the CEO had me in her office on Tuesday. The following week we would be starting back at our school sites. “We finished the video and wanted you to see it.” She turned her computer monitor towards me and I watched as the video filled the screen. It was our campers playing with the Backstreet Boys and the second half of “No Place” played in the background. Some of the footage was so moving. AJ was playing “Just Dance” and losing gleefully to a bunch of eight and nine-year-olds. Kevin was playing air hockey with some of our kids. Howie was out playing duck duck splash and getting nearly drenched by the cup of water every time. Nick was in teaching the girls how to dance and Brian, well, he was out there shooting hoops with the kids. There was a scene where he was grinning ear to ear spinning a ball on his finger and all the six-year-olds around him were staring at him in awe. I smiled at the footage. And then at the end, there they were out in their matching tee-shirts and giving the famous, “We’re the Backstreet Boys,” line. They then went on to say that for our kids there was no place like Club. They mentioned the website and asked people to donate.

I had tears in my eyes as it finished. “That is so amazing,” I whispered.

“I know,” the CEO said. “And the photo of you and Brian has just blown up in a good way.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Have you ever been to New York before?”

“No,” I commented.

“Well, there’s an opportunity on the table for you and our organization. That photo has touched so many and everyone wants to know the story. So in two weeks, the Monday after All Staff, there’s an opportunity for you to be on the _Today Show_ and _Good Morning America_.”

I stared at her. “What?” She nodded at me. “Why?”

“I told you. They want the story.” I just sat there stunned. “I know you have kids, that’s why I’m telling you now. I really hope we can make this work.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I replied, giving her a lopsided grin and standing up. This was going to be way more difficult than I anticipated.

Nearly two weeks later at our all-staff meeting, I was sitting at a table, drinking my coffee staring at my phone. Things had been taken care of and I was flying to New York the next day. My anxiety was extremely high. I may not have looked it on the outside, but I was freaking out. The room was still fairly empty, so I didn’t see our CEO come up and ask me if I was ready for today. I just grinned. She slid a paper across the table at me. “Here. These are some facts for you for Monday.” I nodded, taking the two sheets and glancing at them. I casually slid them in my bag, not really bothering to read them right then, but knowing I would probably pull them out later. She then snuck off back to her office as some of my fellow camp counselors came into the room and said hi to me.

We started our meeting and they did our usual announcements and anniversaries. Then the CEO came out and invited me up there. She told everyone what had happened. She then looked at me and said that I had an amazing opportunity on Monday.

I grinned and looked at my colleagues. “Yeah, guys. See, I know you’ve seen the photos. You guys have asked me all about it. So, I’m just gonna say this. Set your alarms for early Monday morning. I know we all like to sleep in, but on Monday morning I’m going to be in New York on the major networks talking about our Club.” The room erupted into applause. “The other thing we are debuting is the video we made… on national television!” The room again exploded with sound. “So, we’re going to give you a sneak peak of the video right now.” I headed back to my seat as the video played. The rest of the training day was a blur. My brain wasn’t there.

The next morning, my mom dropped me off at the airport. I somehow managed to make it through security without a hitch. I had plenty of time to wait, so I killed time playing on my phone and making sure it had a charge. The flight was unremarkable. I snapped a few pictures for my Instagram and was thankful that even though it was a long flight, they had managed to book me one that was non-stop. I snagged my meager carry-on which was my backpack and headed off the plane when we landed in New York. It was early afternoon and I had some time to kill. Thankfully, the networks were putting me up in a hotel near their studios and taking care of everything for me. And when I said everything, I meant everything. I was able to go to the 9/11 Memorial, and a few other places I wanted to check out without having to really find my way around. They had booked me a personal tour guide for the afternoon. And had even taken care of my food. I headed back to my room though by seven, thoroughly exhausted, my body still on West Coast time. I knew my wake up was something like four in the morning. My first segment was in the six-thirty half and my second was in the seven-thirty half. So when my alarm clock went off at four that morning, I jumped in the shower to wake myself up. In my brain, I was still supposed to be asleep.

I was dressed in my blue work shirt and black yoga pants and ready when the call came at five that my ride was downstairs. I tried to relax, shoving my card key and the folded up talking points I had been given in my pocket. Trying not to think about it, I put my earbuds into my cell phone and put on music, trying to relax. It didn’t really help. We arrived at the studio at about five-thirty-five. I was ushered to a spot for hair and makeup and then taken to a green room to wait. It was a little after six in the morning. I was shaking. My brain couldn’t focus. I tried reading the words on the pages in front of me again, having already memorized them. I couldn’t even hold the pages, I was shaking so bad. That was when I heard a familiar voice. “Hey.” I spun around in the chair I was sitting in and stared at the doorway. Standing there was Brian, in jeans and a graphic tee-shirt. I was out of my chair and flung my arms around him faster than I knew I could. Tears were running down my face.

“Oh my God, you’re here,” I said, pulling myself away from him. I dabbed at my face, hoping I hadn’t just messed everything up.

He smiled at me. “Of course I’m here. I wasn’t going to leave you to do this alone.”

My brain quickly ran through things to say and decided to randomly bring up things. “But don’t you have a show tonight? Isn’t your son doing something today?”

Brian nodded. “He is,” he replied. “And I do. But the network contacted me and asked if there was any way I could be here. When I found out they had you booked already, I knew I had to come support you.”

“Why?” I asked, as he led me over to a sofa and had me sit down.

“Because this isn’t your gig. You work with kids. I figured talking on television wasn’t exactly something you’d be comfortable with.”

I smiled at him. “You’ve got that right. So what’d you do? Charter a flight?”

He nodded. “Pretty much. I leave right after the second segment.”

“Me too,” I replied. I sighed. “So, tips? Tricks? Anything to help me through this.”

Brian grinned. “I’m sure you’ve been given a list of things to say or mention?” I leaned over and picked up the folded papers from the floor. “Speak slowly. Remember, you’re just having a conversation like we are now.” I stared at him. “By the time we get to the next one, you’ll be a pro.”

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think I can do this,” I said to the floor.

He reached over and grabbed my hand. “Yes, you can, Bec. I’ve got your back.” I glanced up at him. “I still can’t say your name. No one understands it. I can only get the middle sound out.” I smiled at him. “And I’ll hold your hand through the whole thing if you want.” I smiled and nodded, knowing that in any other circumstance, having Brian Littrell hold my hand would be the reason I was freaking out. He grabbed my hand as a stagehand came to get us. Before we walked out to where the cameras were, he stopped me and stood directly in my path. “Breathe. I’m right here. You’ve got this,” he said softly. I stared up into his blue eyes and took a slow breath. I did it one more time before he stood beside me and held my hand. We walked together out to two stools with backs on them. He took the one closest to the anchor and I climbed up in mine. He grabbed my hand as the lights went on. I looked over at him as he squeezed my fingers. I squeezed back and the first question came about how the Backstreet Boys had even ended up there at our little Club.

The two hours that I spent between the two studios went way too quickly and Brian and I were ushered off to JFK airport together. I was grateful for this because it gave me a little more time to thank him. I headed to my gate and he headed towards the private jets. I knew I’d probably see him again on tour, but wasn’t expecting _anything_ like what had transpired over the past several weeks.

By the time I landed in Sacramento, my phone was exploding with text messages, Facebook posts and tags, and emails. It was still relatively early, so I checked my text messages. I had a bunch of messages in various group texts I was in. Plus there were personal ones from people I had worked with at various locations. When I finally got home and had the opportunity to get online, I saw that the story had been shared on Facebook. There was also a message from the CEO in my voicemail. Knowing it was too late and no one was probably there, I saved it for the next day. I was glad I did.

The next day, when I called the CEO back, she told me that there was going to be a special Facebook video going up. I didn’t know what she meant, but I had seen that the video we had done had been posted as well as the two segments had been shared. About an hour later, I saw the post. It was actually shared from the Backstreet Boys account. The short video said that they were thrilled to come out and hang with us and they were going to kick off our fundraising campaign by giving us fifty-thousand dollars! I was shocked! When I checked in later with my coordinator, she told me that donations had been rolling in for the past two days. People from all over were donating to us. I wasn’t too surprised. I knew with the press we had gotten over the photos, it was bound to happen.


End file.
